Note: This is the second issue (edition?) of this newsletter. If you missed the first, check it out here.
48,000
That was the number the Padres passed along—or at least their estimate—of the number of people who came through the turnstiles for FanFest this past Saturday. Had they announced 148,000, I would have believed them. And if you were there, I’m guessing you would have, too.
The event was just remarkable on so many levels. For one, it was our first time seeing Xander, Manny, Juan and Fernando all together in their Padres uniforms. That…was a hell of a sight. For another, the energy and anticipation was such a great tease of what’s to come this year.
The reality is, with season ticket sales now capped and single-game tickets flying…we should all be preparing ourselves for at least 40,000 fans at most every home game this season. The place is going to be rocking and there’s a legitimate homefield advantage that has been created here.
At one of the panels on Saturday, team CEO Erik Greupner (or maybe AJ Preller? Sorry, it was a blur that day) mentioned how during free agent conversations, players have brought up the atmosphere at Petco as something that attracts them. That’s such an incredible compliment to you all…and they ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
Peoria Bound
After FanFest, there was something of an unofficial caravan east to the greater Phoenix area. A bunch of the players are already there and the first official report date is 2/13 (for pitchers and catchers who will be participating in the WBC).
This excites me. This likely excites you.
It excites the players, too. Look, there’s obviously nothing better than October baseball, but February comes way closer than a non-fan could ever realize. There’s just something about new beginnings and new energy and new teammates and yes, that clichéd, hopeful optimism that maybe, just maybe…this is our year.
The fun thing about 2023 (and the last few years, as well) is that this optimism and excitement isn’t Pollyannish for our dear Pads. There’s nothing to suggest this can’t be the year when it finally happens. Whether it does or not is up to circumstance, luck, and an absurd number of other variables, but they are absolutely one of the…let me count real quick…five (?) teams in the National League who not only have legitimate World Series aspirations, but legitimate World Series possibilities ahead of them.
And it all starts on a chilly February morning in Peoria, Arizona six days from now.
Speaking of Which…
If you’ve never made it out to the desert for the workout days, I can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s the most informal time of the year and the crowds are smaller than after the games begin. If you’ve ever wanted a chance to see these guys truly up close and personal working on their craft in a pseudo-relaxed environment, this is it. The pathways between the fields provide an incredible avenue to literally brush shoulders with your favorite baseball men. And you can snap some really great pictures and videos, as well. If you have kids in the…let’s say 9-16…age range, it’s basically baseball heaven for them. Or I know it was for me.
I grew up in South Florida and Spring Training was my THING. We didn’t have a Major League team down there until I was 11, so in my early, formative years, the only times I got to see Major Leaguers in person—save for a trip to NY to see my grandparents in the summer—were in places like Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Port St. Lucie. Even after the Marlins entered the league, I still always enjoyed my time aimlessly wandering around those complexes and there are some encounters that have stayed with me my entire life (namely Hank Aaron and Turk Wendell, two men who may have never been written about in the same sentence before).
It’s just the best. I know it’s not a super quick drive and that flights and hotels aren’t cheap, but if you can make it work, it’s really a very special few hours each morning.
Question(s) of the Week…
Reminder that I’d love to make your questions a regular part of this thing. So send away.
Baseball Rarities
This tweet made the rounds a couple of weeks ago:
I didn’t double-check any of his numbers, and I am thinking a couple may be off, or at least require some further discussion (some weird stuff happened way back in the day), but for our purposes here, let’s roll with it. First of all—this is really cool. Super easy to follow and wild to think about some of these things. Papa Tatis, of course, leads off the list thanks to his two-slam inning at Dodger Stadium. The four double plays in one game thing is pretty bonkers, too. I know Joe Torre did it with the Mets in the ‘70s, not sure of the other one. The cycle thing, of course, jumps out from the Padre perspective, because HOW DID IT TAKE SO LONG. Matt Kemp (Coors Field), Wil Myers (Coors Field) and Jake Cronenworth (Nationals Park) have now, of course, accomplished it; though the only cycle at Petco came last year when the Mets’ Eduardo Escobar pulled it off. I love me an immaculate inning and we got fairly close a couple of times last year, but still the only Padre to pull that off was Brian Lawrence back in 2002. Anyway! Fun to look down that list and I do wish MLB.com would keep a running tally of that kind of stuff somewhere easily accessible. Would be great to check up on it as the season rolls along.
Shameless Promotion!
I often get asked about how I spend my time in the offseason. Pre-COVID, I was doing a fair amount of national radio for NFL and college football, plus a little college basketball. An occasional PAC-12 Network game on TV, just sort of a little to keep me busy. Like a lot of things, the pandemic kind of upended that, and then we had our second kid in October of 2020 (days after the Padres were eliminated in the NLDS), so things at home changed quite a bit and I haven’t gotten back into the swing of that.
So the short answer is, I spend a lot of time with the family, trying to make up for all the time I miss from mid-February until late-October. Not that it makes up for it, but being present is pretty important.
However! This winter I was able to pick up a fun side project and it’s a really, really special one. First off, it’s local. The crew at The Firepit Collective, out of Oceanside, approached me about narrating a docuseries they were creating and producing about golfers who are trying to “make it” as professionals. I was blown away by the show and honored to play a very, very small part in it.
Anyway, the first three epsiodes of The Grind are now up on their YouTube page if you’d like to check them out.
Huge thank you to Matt Ginella and his crew for including me and hats off to an amazing group of professionals.
Reminder 🙃
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